Kirsten’s Old Sketchbook consisting of mostly non-sketches

[Zirngibism]

Hello, there. I've finally gotten the courage to post my own sketchbook. My name is Kirsten Zirngibl. I do a good bit of lurking and will be posting more.

I did a lot more art back around high school Freshman year-- Someone even told me that they think the best pieces of mine were from that time. Thinking that one "peaked" at that time is frustrating!

I started to get busy with academics later in High School, and rarely had time for art. However, I made the decision to pursue it as a career, so I will start to work on it a lot more than I have in the past. Now that I'm out, I plan to start developing my skills again.

I will try to post my work in chronological order, starting from eighth grade (I have some interesting stuff from that time and earlier, but it's not in the computer). Sometimes I finished some of those pieces in the summer of that year-- it's not a perfect catagorizing system. After this large burst of works, I will post some of the things I'm currently working on, as well as some works-in-progress. I've always been really into portraying situations with a story in them, so I'm going to explain them. All of the ideas are my own.

I'll be describing the pieces in a list of captions that correspond with the attached images. You'll figure it out.

I'd also like to note that I lot of my work is pretty small in size. It's kind of different viewing certain sizes as if they had the same width as ones larger- not always sure if that's a good thing or not. I've provided dimensions, as well as some sections from the full file sizes.

I guess thus far (up to post 9), I have mostly completed pieces. As I said before, I will be posting incomplete ones as well.

Finally, I guess it's sort of hard to find consistency within my works- with me anyway. I've used so many mediums and a lot of different styles that it doesn't look like I have a real... direction, as an artist. I suppose it's because probably half of these are the result of some kind of school assignment. Almost all my assignments have been rather open-ended, but I still ended up doing something I might not have decided to do on my own. Perhaps you can help me out in finding my tendencies and some kind of consistency.




(Pic for the thumbnail):

[Zirngibism]

Pics from 8th grade

Pic order: #1
Identifying description: Portrait of a girl.
Title of piece: "Myself"
Dimentions: w->9.5” h->8”
What's going on: This was my second oil painting-- a self portrait. I just had this taken of myself so I could paint it (notice the sky- like I'm thinking of something unearthly). I feel like it's still unfinished- it was taken by a portrait studio at Wal-Mart; the light wrapped around my face too much, making it so flat. I regret I was too scared to add shadow where the portrait needed it, just because I didn't see it in the photo.
Medium: Oil


Pic order: #2
Identifying description: Very detailed (probably TOO much so) drawing of a dragon-like creature on a very busy planet.
Title of piece: "Another World" (haha, pretty generic)
Dimentions: w->8” h->10.75”
What's going on: A dragon-like creature is standing on a ledge, harvesting this very rare plant that actually grows on the tip of these huge crystals that have been saturated with a solution that makes them seep pure mineral, which, with water, makes up nearly the entire plant. It's excellent for medicinal purposes.
Medium: Pen


Pic order: #3
Identifying description: A drawing of some shoes...
Title of piece: untitled
Dimentions: approx. w->7” h->7”
What's going on: This is a still life of shoes (the middle one is sort of a woven-leather thing-- I remember counting each one of the strap things-- very tedious!)
Medium: Pencil

[Zirngibism]

Pics from 9th grade

{I probably worked the most this year, as you'll probably see.}

Pic order: #1
Identifying description: Detailed almost "dragon" like creature.
Title of piece: "Pnaebius Polyextrapolai"
Dimentions: w->9.5” h->8”
What's going on: This is a piece that's attempting to depict a deviation from the "classic" dragon. It pictures a parent creature, with a baby (kind of hard to see-- lower right corner). It's to show a different side of a creature that seems rather hostile. A lot of its add-ons don't make a lot of sense- it has "armor", and yet it has many things that make it also appear delicate. I'm told this is more powerful as an abstract piece than objective, mainly because it's so distracting.
Medium: Oil


Pic order: #2
Identifying description: 3 "swirled" portraits of a man; inverted colors.
Title of piece: "Twisted Logic" Portrait Series
Dimentions: w->13.5” h->19.75”
What's going on: These are all portraits of my Dad- a very logical man. I played around with stretching and twisting him (mainly his hair) not only because it was fun, but for the embarassed look on his face when people would recognize him in our school art show.
Medium: Oil pastel (my first-- it was a little hard to work with!)


Pic order: #3
Identifying description: Black and white patches surrounded by worm-like creatures, filled with "Escher meets cubism" stairs and other structures.
Title of piece: "Primative Creatures that Ingest Order and Excrete Chaos"
Dimentions: w->5.75” h->11”
What's going on: The title is a pretty good description here. Essentially, a sack-like "chaos bomb" includes hundreds of "eggs" that host rapid-growing worm-like creatures that actually eat through reality. They eat through in a radial pattern, assumedly over one 2D "plane". Color is the nutrient, which they soak up almost all the way. They feed on order, perspective, and form, and excrete a chopped-up version of it. This is why there is no color or consistent direction in side the holes- they've already eaten that part.
Medium: Acrylic on canvas
Note: This is actually a picture of a photocopy of the original, and not all of this is shown- there are a couple of inches to the right that were lost when this copied due to size limits of the machinery.

Pic order: #4 & #5
Identifying description: An old-fashioned sink, with a lot going on around it, like a gushing road and some chickens.
Title of piece: "Why Did the Road Cross the Chickens?"
Dimentions: w->16.75” h->10.75”
What's going on: When I originally planned this piece, it was to make fun of a fad at my school of "random"... (like saying random things). I started with someone who decided to say "fire-breathing chicken" and made a situation to fit it. If you look closely, you'll see that several of these twisted birds are pecking at the fuse... of a bomb. They're standing on a road that's a result of a system with some messed-up entropy (the road is gushing out of the fawcet of the old-fahioned sink, then forming itself into an orderly thing-- (this was also about the "random" fad of people mixing things together but it sounding coherent anyway). One of the chickens is very stupid- he's starting to flow his fire at the part of the sink that's shielding him from the liquid road. As I worked, I came up with a situation where each one of the chickens represent a different country/region of the world- it's about nuclear warfare.
Medium: Oil
#4 is a color photocopy, hence the weird glare and flatness.

Pic order: #6 & #7
Identifying description: A flying rodent with machinery in the background.
Title of piece: "Specimen Bt(q)-34.8.A"?
Dimentions: w->14” h->10.75”
What's going on: This is a guinea pig escaping from a lab. Basically, the statement "You be the guinea pig" can actually be positive. On close inspection, the guinea pig has wires hooked into a chip implanted in its brain. It's an experiment to determine whether the rodent could evolve natural tissue in the same part of its brain as what moves the legs to control the wings. The motorized part on each tip causes the pinwheel-like flaps to rotate. Also, the whole thing can pivot, causing a change of direction. The rest of the wing acts more of a glider. This is more of a fantasy piece than Sci-Fi, though, because the wings are way too small. I've been thinking of starting a children's book with this illustration as the premise.
Medium: Watercolor and pen
Here's a link to a review done of the piece: http://www.ohio.com/mld/beaconjournal/16201967.htm(I really didn't intend for it to be as "dark" as the reviewer thinks it is)[/COLOR]#6 is a color photocopy, hence the slight glare.

Pic order: #8
Identifying description: A very-detailed (too detailed?) piece featuring a bug-eyed alien holding some strange-looking machinery up to some dripping sacks.
Title of piece: "The Harvest"
Dimentions: w->9.5” h->7”
What's going on: This also started out as making fun of something: the clichéd "alien". Again, it evolved into my own version of the alien (perhaps what I think one should look like, heh. The alien is harvesting a fluid produced by the illuminated sacs. (The broken ones are dead- no light). It's using the tool in its "left" tentacle to detect whether the fluid is good or not. The solution produced by the sac is used as a medium for which to enhance the growth of their young (after their genetic material is poured into it in an asexual process). But I assumed the viewer knew that already...
Medium: Pen and watercolor


Pic order: #9
Identifying description: A black-and white projection of roots/branches
Title of piece: "Root Profusion"
Dimentions: w->17.5” h->11.5”
What's going on: Basically itself... This was another school assignment. It's a drawing from life of an uprooted shrub lying on the table, from the view of its roots.
Medium: pen


Pic order: #10 & #11
Identifying description: A "blueprint" on yellow paper
Title of piece: "CCS (Chemical Coding System) Computer Automated Stem Cell Incubation Unit"?
Dimentions: w->27.75” h->22”
What's going on: This was for school, but not for art. We had to "invent" something for a disabled person. Being the usual "overachiever", I thought of a home unit that would incubate stem cells for a person who might have a brain injury or degenerative condition. However, the cells are less then perfect, dying early and not coming back. The patient would need to inject themselves (almost like diabetics with insulin, but not as often). The system would design and completely monitor the conditions of the cells. The monitor shows the progress, and allows input. The processor would use a unique chemical language (like C++) that deals almost entirely with chemical formulas and temperature that would monitor the release of certain amino acids and base solutions into different chambers of the actual "incubator" (the third piece). This would alow the patient to place a small blood sample. Everything except the base unit of a fat cell would be discarded, where this would be transported to the various chambers for treatment. In the final stage, the new incubated solution would be placed into a needle, ready for injection. Yeah, I guess you could call me a nerd...
Medium: Oil

[Zirngibism]

Pics from 10th grade

Pic order: #1
Identifying description: Landscape w/ hands
Title of piece: Scape of Emergence and Decay
Dimentions: w->15 ¼” h->12”
What's going on: All the pathways in the stone-ish "alien" landscape have been carved by these hand creatures, who dig around under, and through their lives slowly extend up until their muscle-like "roots" are no longer in the ground. They then wither and die (like the hand to the right, towards the back with the very long fingernails- it was actually my grandfather's hand.
Medium: Graphite and acrylic


Pic order: #2
Identifying description: Detailed, dark still life with twisted "tree"
Title of piece: "Nightmare at the Hallmark Shop"
Dimentions: w->11.75” h->15”
What's going on: This is a still-life of three soft-sculptures: A black cat, a pumpkin-head, and a witch. They have that "cutsey-crafty" look with the small eyes and large mouth (I didn't choose them, our art teacher did). They seemed like the typical thing you'd find in, well, the Hallmark Shop. So I thought it would be quirky to actually position them over a non-cutesy backdrop of the same thing- a genuinely spooky, non-cute mutated tree with old men heads for gourds.
Medium: Pen and watercolor (really bad paper though, )


Pic order: #3
Identifying description: A man typing on a laptop - muted colors
Title of piece: Provantage
Dimentions: w->21.5” h->17.75”
What's going on: This is my Dad, doing some work away from work. I've seen this scene very often, and painted it from life.
Medium: Watercolor


Pic order: #4
Identifying description: A pen-lined tinted swamp scene, with bone-like plants.
Title of piece: "Symbiotic Relationship I"
Dimentions: w->9.5" h->7”
What's going on: This is one of my favorite "other world" pieces. The main stalks in the foreground are from a single organism (an entire one can be seen in the background). This organism is actually a scavenger, (or more accurately a parasite to dead remains). It's kind of a complicated relationship- I'll explain it on request.
Medium: Pen and watercolor


Pic order: #5
Identifying description: Drawing of an elderly woman
Title of piece: "Oma"
Dimentions: w->4.75” h->5.75”
What's going on: This is simply a portrait of my 85-year-old Grandmother. I was going to make a whole painting, putting her German hometown in the background montage style, but... eh- no time at the time; This is a tinted photocopy of the little drawing I made that I gave to her for her birthday.
Medium: Xerox-ed colored pencil, tinted with colored pencil.


Pic order: #6
Identifying description: Drawing of a plated creature
Title of piece: "Glacias fossura" (Latin for 'ice burrower')
Dimentions: approx. (w->5.5” h->5.5”)
What's going on: This is a creature that burrows through ice, which it uses powerful vibrations to melt. It can latch onto sloped tunnel walls with the heated spikes on its tale.
Medium: Watercolor and pen

[Zirngibism]

Pics from 11th grade


Pic order: #1 & #2
Identifying description: A side-view portrait of a boy at the computer.
Title of piece: "Rune Escape" (play on the name of the online game 'Runescape')
Dimentions: w->20” h->16”
What's going on: This is my brother- the photograph was taken at a time when he was very interested in the game. He has gotten up VERY early in the morning and snuck downstairs to play, hair amuss. I made the screen have a tunnel actually going in through the screen, representing the RPG's constant appeal- with perpetual goals, it's like a light that's constantly at the end of a tunnel that nobody can fully reach. I recently submitted it to the game's fan art program-- can it count as fan art? Also, I shone a light behind him-- could I make the back-lighting even stronger in the painting?
Medium: Oil


Pic order: #3
Identifying description: A meaty fern-shaped creature amid some richly-colored minerals and fungus.
Title of piece: Symbiotic Relationship II
Dimentions: approx. w->14” h->11”
What's going on: This is another one of my "pseudoscientific" biological pieces (This is one of my other favorite ideas!). The meaty fern-shaped thing is actually a rooted creature- somewhat like an anemone. It's constantly moving, whipping around these yellow balls that look much like a common flying creature that these larger bird-like creatures commonly eat (however, they're really poisonous berry-like things). When the "bird" dives down and grabs one of these whipping berries off the fern-like creature, it is paralized in about half a second. Because the height is usually about the same, the bird (usually the same initial velocity and angle of decent) falls approximately 5 feet away. So, this worm scavenger is sitting in a circle at a 5-foot radius around, where it can then devour the decaying bird-like creature, and excrete its nutrients to the base of the fern-like creatures. I love stuff like this!
Medium: Marker with watercolor washes


Pic order: #4
Identifying description: Dark blue with drapes of toilet paper
Title of piece: "The Triangle"
Dimentions: approx. w->9” h->7”
What's going on: My brother and his friends are literally having toilet paper fall on them from this toilet-paper blowing machine at his birthday party (I'm the farthest to the right). It illustrates some of the social problems (mainly a "friend triangle") going on at the time between these different boys. One of them, the one we can hardly see, doesn't want much to do with it (and neither do I- looking away). The two main combatants seem are tugging at the toilet paper- showing the tension between themselves.
Medium: Oil

[Zirngibism]

Pics from 12th grade -- (I do have some more here that I haven't uploaded yet- oh well, I don't like them very much).

All of these were done (or, started, I should say-- all of these are "incomplete") in Microsoft Paint. I still plan to try out Corel, though. I've seen some amazing stuff from it!


Pic order: #1
Identifying description: Me, sitting in this rich, primal swamp-like environment.
Title of piece: "What's That on the Table"?
Dimentions: w->NA h->NA
What's going on: This is about my fear of unidentified substances that I've had for several years now. I won't go into it now... Anyway, this piece is about the idea that I've created my own world. I have my feet dipped in this primal ooze, I'm surrounded by strange life and odors. I'm not bothered by these things, because I created them- I know what they are. However, I'm still shying away from this little spot on a table, because I don't know what it's made of or how it got there- the irony of the situation!
Medium: Microsoft Paint
This is not finished!

Pic order: #2
Identifying description: Captain Kirk and Crew getting tormented by a bizarre alien.
Title of piece: "Beam Them Up Already!"
Dimentions: w->NA h->NA
What's going on: This is sort of a satire of the Star Trek original series, and a play of my "I-made-my-own-planet" idea. It's basically that after I made the planets geology and ecosystem, I'm being invaded by... Kirk's crew! Well, I don't want them disturbing the stuff I just made, so I send some of my creatures after them- specifically ones that choke them, causing them to gag, then amplify the sound they make. Then, they scream, which is amplified, which causes them to scream louder, the vicious cycle. They leave in a hurry!
Medium: Microsoft Paint
This is not finished either!

[Zirngibism]

As I said before, I really like paying a lot of attention to detail-- somethings I think I put too much of it in, especially in the wrong places.

Since some of my pics are kind of small-ish, I put together a few collections of some of the more detailed parts of my stuff through the past couple years.

[Zirngibism]

Here are a few of my fractals I did-- experimented with some of the scripting a couple years ago. I used a program called UltraFractal, as well as Corel Photopaint to enhance my fractals, and even some Microsoft Paint (I used it to make the "clockwork" behind the second piece)

Pic order: #1
Title of piece: "The Bloodweb"


Pic order: #2
Title of piece: "The Branches of Time in Divergence" (haha, I realize now that everyone names their fractals like that-- but seriously, it does nicely show an interesting theory of time, that every possible thing that can happen does happen, and when it happens a seperate Universe is created- it's spacey all right)


Pic order: #3
Title of piece: "Snowplants"


Pic order: #4
Title of piece: "Cross-Streak" (I'm not a huge fan of this one... oh well)

[Zirngibism]

I did did a little experimentation with Blender nearing a year ago. My laptop basically broke down and now I don't think I can retrieve the rest...
The top three are from Blender

Oh, and scroll up and down while viewing the top one- there's the illusion that it's spinning.

The bottom three are from an architecture program, shown as a progression. It was an interesting study for "sculpting" the human face.

[Zirngibism]

(Is it bad to bump threads here? I've seen it done in forums before but I'm not sure how it's viewed here- please tell me)

[megadubitably]

wow! Your 8th grade/9th grade pics are amazing for your age back then! You are very lucky to have started working with oils when you were younger (I just started oils this year ). My personal favorites are the Rune Escape, the flying rodent, and the sink :3 The amount of detail in your stories and pictures is great. Are all of these from pictures, or are some of them from observation?
Ahhh!! I just visited your myspace... you went to Marie Walsh Sharpe? So did I!! What session were you in? That was possibly the best experience of my life

[Zirngibism]

wow! Your 8th grade/9th grade pics are amazing for your age back then! You are very lucky to have started working with oils when you were younger (I just started oils this year ). My personal favorites are the Rune Escape, the flying rodent, and the sink :3 The amount of detail in your stories and pictures is great. Are all of these from pictures, or are some of them from observation?
Ahhh!! I just visited your myspace... you went to Marie Walsh Sharpe? So did I!! What session were you in? That was possibly the best experience of my life

Thank you-- I only wish I would've continued working as much on art this year than some of those earlier ones. Some of these are from observation. The shoe one (I think I called it "untitled"), "Root Profusion" (pen & ink of tree root), "Nightmare at the Hallmark Shop" (well, this was partially from my head), "Provantage" (the laptop one), and that's about it... probably not enough...
I had session 1 last summer-- Jimmy Grashow and Jane Sutherland as our teachers. I had some great times there, but... some of them weren't very good. This, however, was my fault. I wasn't prepared to work so quickly. I stubbornly tried layering in the style of watercolor with the acrylic (not my favorite medium...), and as a result wasn't 20% finished with any of my paintings. I used to take most of my art assignments home to finish them-- no can do at that camp! I felt frustrated, intimidated, and inferior to the people who were used to painting wonderful things so quickly.
However, there were great times, and I learned so much-- especially in drawing. I hadn't done much figure drawing before that, and I gained a lot of knowledge of evaluating the space in your work.
What session did you have?

[MikeHamlett]

Your attention to detail and overall accuracy is very impressive, especially for your age. I look forward to seeing more of your paintings, keep sharing.

[Zirngibism]

Ok, here's a work in progress:

(This is another Microsoft Paint thing- it's a portrait of my brother, overlooking an alien landscape. - It's very incomplete [and the hair currently looks almost afro-ish, heh]. Anyway, it shows the process of my basic sketch beneath)

[megadubitably]

Thank you-- I only wish I would've continued working as much on art this year than some of those earlier ones. Some of these are from observation. The shoe one (I think I called it "untitled"), "Root Profusion" (pen & ink of tree root), "Nightmare at the Hallmark Shop" (well, this was partially from my head), "Provantage" (the laptop one), and that's about it... probably not enough...
I had session 1 last summer-- Jimmy Grashow and Jane Sutherland as our teachers. I had some great times there, but... some of them weren't very good. This, however, was my fault. I wasn't prepared to work so quickly. I stubbornly tried layering in the style of watercolor with the acrylic (not my favorite medium...), and as a result wasn't 20% finished with any of my paintings. I used to take most of my art assignments home to finish them-- no can do at that camp! I felt frustrated, intimidated, and inferior to the people who were used to painting wonderful things so quickly.
However, there were great times, and I learned so much-- especially in drawing. I hadn't done much figure drawing before that, and I gained a lot of knowledge of evaluating the space in your work.
What session did you have?

woah, big brain fart... I forgot what session. I think maybe 3? I had a three week art camp right before I went, so I could only do that session. I had Judith Bernstein for drawing, and Chuck Forsman for painting. They were almost complete opposites, they were so interesting to learn from. I hadn't even painted before I went! haha so learning HOW to paint was pretty fun. I think I finished two paintings total. Judith had us draw everything on huge paper, so we learned to work fast. I also hadn't worked much with figures before either. The other kids there were amazing, I learned a lot from just watching and talking to them. My session was obsessed with playing pool and puzzles x) Many of them were more painters than drawers, which I found interesting because I thought you had to know how to draw before you painted. I was definitely more of a drawer, but they said I caught on fast to painting. It rained practically everyday though... so at Baca we couldn't go on the hike. But the sand dunes were nice and compacted. When we reached the top, it started to rain again, but it was an amazing experience.

I wish I had worked more on my art throughout high school as well, but I took a lot of hard classes because I am a nerd and like to learn so it was hard to fit art into my schedule, especially because I refused to drop band. I don't regret it though, I'm going to an art school so I'll have plenty of time now.

[Zirngibism]

I took a lot of hard classes because I am a nerd and like to learn so it was hard to fit art into my schedule ... I don't regret it though, I'm going to an art school so I'll have plenty of time now.

Ditto! In the long run, I guess I also agree about not regretting doing other stuff (like taking every regular and AP math and science class possible)...

Oh, and now I remember that climbing those sand dunes was probably the most physically demanding activity I've ever felt. It was blistering hot, the sand hurt to touch, and I started off running up those dunes. For every step I took, I slid back 90% of that distance. I also took a long way around... But it was worth it because then I actually rolled down and took a video of it... sky-sand-sky-sand-sky-sand-- I'll have to find that clip and post it up!

Now get your own sketchbook up here!

[megadubitably]

haha, was neil one of your RAs? He taught us how to run down without falling, but of course there were some hilarious wipeouts x) This one kid ran down the wrong way and ended up in a huge sand ditch, couldn't get out. Ahh... that was funny.

I'll get a sketchbook up sooooon... did you decide what school you're going to? CCAD freshmen might get a sketchbook support group going

[Zirngibism]

haha, was neil one of your RAs? He taught us how to run down without falling, but of course there were some hilarious wipeouts x) This one kid ran down the wrong way and ended up in a huge sand ditch, couldn't get out. Ahh... that was funny.

I'll get a sketchbook up sooooon... did you decide what school you're going to? CCAD freshmen might get a sketchbook support group going

Hm, running down that sand when it was so firm from rain sounds a little dangerous. I did not have Neil-- I did have someone named Andy who seemed like the kind of guy who's might teach us that-- perhaps and I just wasn't with the group.

Well, I'm currently 98% sure I'm going to CCAD. When you say sketchbook support group, I'm assuming you mean this website? What about getting together in real life, when school starts? I was reading through the CCAD thread and some guys were talking about their own-- sounded fun.

[megadubitably]

Hm, running down that sand when it was so firm from rain sounds a little dangerous. I did not have Neil-- I did have someone named Andy who seemed like the kind of guy who's might teach us that-- perhaps and I just wasn't with the group.

Well, I'm currently 98% sure I'm going to CCAD. When you say sketchbook support group, I'm assuming you mean this website? What about getting together in real life, when school starts? I was reading through the CCAD thread and some guys were talking about their own-- sounded fun.

well, the rain didn't make the sand firm exactly, it just made it so dust didn't blow around. The first quarter inch was compact, the rest was all squishy and sandy! Perfect for running down. We also made some sand angels We had Andy as well.

Recent posts in the CCAD thread explain it, for now (at least), it's through CA.org. But you're right, a real group at CCAD does sound like fun. I think there's sketchbook nights there, or at least there were.

[Zirngibism]

Well, as for my own sketchbook thread, I feel like it fails in that it needs to be updated... Problem is that I don't have a working scanner, and I've had a horrible case of Da Vinci Syndrome (a large amount of started projects that aren't finished because I decided to start more stuff...).



I might post some of my started work by just taking digital pictures of it.

[RaistlinTheDark]

nice stuff man!

[Zirngibism]

Here's one of the many things I've started (self-portrait). I'll have some stuff going on in the background. It's 9 X 12. I'm doing it in mechanical pencil (only thing I'll use to draw with).

[Zirngibism]

Up

[Piranha Clan]

I'm astonished at the grasp you had with oils as early as 8th grade. Oils are definately your strongest work. The SP is great as are the details of your bro. Keep it up.

[Envisor]

Need more updates here as well. Me and Sean were talking about your pieces before we even saw you, saying that you were crazy awesome when it came to anything in the realm of art. And its true, you are awesome, would like to see more of your sketches also. Ill be posting soon and I think phong and Sean as well. I need to do more SP's. Seeing yours make me want to curl up in a dark corner and cry for days on end. Youve got a gift.

[seanblanton]

You know, Kirsten I would love to just sit down for a few hours and watch you paint. I would probably gain more insight on how i SHOULD be painting in that amount of time just by observing than any amount of practice can bring me.

I applaud you

[Master 25 Days]

Excellent stuff all around. You're right about the details as they're a bit too busy in some areas. They're really nice to look at though. Robert Henri wrote in his book that completion does not depend on material representation but rather on the condition that a special thing you want to say has been said, or something like that. The quote was referring to portraits, but I believe the same idea could be apply to any work of art. A good thing to do is to squint or back away so you can see all the masses. If you keep your shapes simple your images will read better. There's a very helpful tutorial at http://simplestroke.com/ that shows a pretty solid approach to painting.

The Rune Escape piece is my favorite because of the strong lighting and beautiful renderings. I think it could use some cool lighting from the monitor to balance out all the warm colors though. It should connect the two parts too (guy and monitor)

[Alvaradolol]

The detail in the grape juice bottle and the keyboard are absolutely insane.

I hope we end up in the same painting class

[Blaz]

Woah amazing sketchbook! Some very wicked stuff you have here! Love the haster with wings! Also the painting of your brother on computer is mind blowing! How keyboard,the computer and everything is realistic...crazy.

Keep updating!

[Zirngibism]

Thank you all for the comments! I hope to get some of my drawings/started projects up here so perhaps I can show a less detail-oriented side of myself.


Ok, now for why I'm nervous. The oil paintings I've done are in the style of the Old Masters. This means that I use mediums that thins the paint down considerably so that I'm able to make very fine glazes. This method takes a lot of time. While the medium accelerates the drying process, it can still take as much as a half a day drying time in between layers (at least in the beginning). I also don't work on canvas but instead sort of a masonite board.

I should've branched out and tried a more conventional painting style (like oils without any medium on canvas), but I was working on pieces for Scholastic. Now, while this contest helped me, it hurt me in that I was afraid to try other methods of painting for fear the work wouldn't be good enough to enter. This was because I hardly had time during the school year to paint, so I had to do "good" work when I could.



My point of saying all that is to say that I probably know less about the "type of painting we'll be doing at CCAD" than any of you. Please don't watch me as I try to discover how to paint on the fabric with that annoying texture called "canvas"! I'm so doomed... I should buy some canvas and practice but I don't have my oils with me...

I don't think I've ever painted Alla Prima or anything. Impressionism scares the heck out of me.

I'll probably be asking you guys technique questions about such things.